Climate Smokescreens

Expect nothing progressive out of Copenhagen. Just more grandstanding, and solutions that will only benefit transnational corporations, and members of the global elite. Regardless of the debate about man-made causes for rising temperatures, none can argue that the issue has been hijacked by the world's most powerful and wealthy individuals, and they are using it to serve their own corrupt agenda. Setting up a global government, to be managed in an authoritative way, as the solution to Mankind's many ills, will have dire consequences for a free and blissful humanity.

So far, the useful idiots and foot soldiers, who are unaware of the elitist influence in the Copenhagen conference, believe vehemently in the promises of a global government and are fully committed to the idea of 'saving the planet.' Sadly, it is their denial that corporations and private bankers rule the planet that will ultimately ruin the environment and the people living on it. And these corrupt entities will continue to rule, unless we strip them of their privileges, and bring them down to Earth.

Johann Hari (The Independent): Leaders of the rich world are enacting a giant fraud

Every delegate to the Copenhagen summit is being greeted by the sight of a vast fake planet dominating the city's central square. This swirling globe is covered with corporate logos – the Coke brand is stamped over Africa, while Carlsberg appears to own Asia, and McDonald's announces "I'm loving it!" in great red letters above. "Welcome to Hopenhagen!" it cries. It is kept in the sky by endless blasts of hot air.

This plastic planet is the perfect symbol for this summit. The world is being told that this is an emergency meeting to solve the climate crisis – but here inside the Bela Centre where our leaders are gathering, you can find only a corrupt shuffling of words, designed to allow countries to wriggle out of the bare minimum necessary to prevent the unravelling of the biosphere.

Staggering across the fringes of the summit are the people who will see their countries live or die on the basis of its deliberations. Leah Wickham, a young woman from Fiji, broke down as she told the conference she will see her homeland disappear beneath the waves if we do not act now. "All the hopes of my generation rest on Copenhagen," she pleaded. Dazed Chinese and Indian NGOs explain how the Himalayan ice is rapidly vanishing and will be gone by 2035 – so the great rivers of Asia that are born there will shrivel and cease. They provide water for a quarter of humanity.

Continued . . .

Washington's Blog: World's Leading Scientist Fighting Against Global Warming is Opposed to Cap And Trade

James Hansen is the world's leading climate scientist fighting against global warming.

Yesterday, Dr. Hansen told the Guardian:

He is vehemently opposed to the carbon market schemes – in which permits to pollute are bought and sold – which are seen by the EU and other governments as the most efficient way to cut emissions and move to a new clean energy economy.

Therefore, Hansen says:

It would be better for the planet and for future generations if next week's Copenhagen climate change summit ended in collapse.

Hansen has previously said that cap and trade "will not work", and he has previously called cap and trade "a Ponzi-like ... scheme".I have repeatedly pointed out that cap and trade won't work. Indeed:

• The economists who invented cap-and-trade say that it won't work for global warming

• Many environmentalists say that carbon trading won't effectively reduce carbon emissions

• European criminal investigators have determined that there is a tremendous amount of fraud occurring in the carbon trading market.

• Former U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs Robert Shapiro says that the proposed cap and trade law "has no provisions to prevent insider trading by utilities and energy companies or a financial meltdown from speculators trading frantically in the permits and their derivatives."

• Our bailout buddies over at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and the other Wall Street behemoths are buying heavily into carbon trading (see this, this, this, this, this and this). As University of Maryland professor economics professor and former Chief Economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission Peter Morici writes:

  Obama must ensure that the banks use the trillions of dollars in federal bailout assistance to renegotiate mortgages and make new loans to worthy homebuyers and businesses. Obama must make certain that banks do not continue to squander federal largess by padding executive bonuses, acquiring other banks and pursuing new high-return, high-risk lines of businesses in merger activity, carbon trading and complex derivatives. Industry leaders like Citigroup have announced plans to move in those directions. Many of these bankers enjoyed influence in and contributed generously to the Obama campaign. Now it remains to be seen if a President Obama can stand up to these same bankers and persuade or compel them to act responsibly.

  In other words, the same companies that made billions off of derivatives and other scams and are now getting bailed out on your dime are going to make billions from carbon trading.

And it won't work.